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Title: All Things Betray Thee: The Life and Times of a Liverpool Sailor by Peter Wright ISBN: 1-58820-269-0 Publisher: 1stBooks Library Pub. Date: December, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.48

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: A captivating personal history of English life at sea.
Comment: If you like to read books that grab you -- whose characters enter into your psyche so completely you feel them pop up inside of you for days, maybe years after reading their tales -- this is such a book. Not only the characters are captivating, but their unique speech as well. I found myself thinking and speaking in a Liverpool English for days after each reading session, so deeply did the stories enter into my make-up.

At the outset I will caution a reader to expect the book to be a little like getting a large ship underway. For me it was slow going at first, with the details of history, but then picked up speed and rolled along at a steady 18-knot pace throughout. Any effort it took to wade through the surprizingly detailed historical information was more than rewarded by the stories themselves.

This is an autobiography, a moving tale of an aging man desperately trying to finally create something positive and useful from a largely-felt wasted human life -- by at least going through the agony of recalling it all --- of writing it all down, but more than that -- of writing it down with the care and dedication it takes to qualify as a printed book worth reading. It may be especially worth while for those whose lives have been or are affected by the disease of alcohol, and certainly as well for those fortunate enough not to have so suffered, but who may need to know something about it.

But the book is more than an autobiography, it is an accounting of an entire history and tradition of an English-Irish family sailing culture no longer existing, with all the language and actions and emotions of those days, vividly brought back to life. A very brief example: p. 6: " Halloo lads. Are ye upstairs now? Come on down fer a minute and see yer ould dad. Ye can finish off yer homework in a wee while."

Besides this human side, the accounts of formal English/Irish sailing history alone are well worth the reading - from 550 AD to 2000. These historical data are laboriously detailed - laborious not just in the massive research it must have taken to excise and record such events, but at times laborious to read as well. No matter, it is worth the effort, for smooth sailing sections abound throughout which more than make up for the time invested in reading every one of these words faithfully. Also, I venture to say if anyone dared to verify the specific details of some of the sea accounts, they would very likely end up experiencing a healthy respect for the accuracy and veracity of the author.

While you will find several typos in the book, I did not find them to be an interference, because interest in the stories themselves far outweighed their few interruptions. But photographs were far from acceptable for a tome of this quality. Captions fonts were often too small to read, and photographs far too grainy - which leads one to wonder not of the author but of the publisher. I will also caution against undue concern about sudden changes in time and place. The author keeps us on our toes by requiring we store certain accounts in active memory while temporarily engaging in seemingly unrelated incidents.

Having thus commented on the wonderfully detailed accounts of sea-faring history, I must also allude to the pleasure of reading his fictional accounts of selected events. In fact, I will go so far as to suggest the author seriously consider writing more fiction, because compared to the detail of his faithful recording of actual events, his flights of fancy stand out as further inspirational enjoyment. Example: his recounting of all the sights, feelings, sounds and emotions while being formed in his mother's nurturing womb, and the final sudden expulsion into the hard glare of life. Another is the detailed "history" of the death of his uncle Tom, as breath-by-breath accounts leading to that sad incident are re-membered not only through Tom's last moments of life, but in those of the young German sniper who pulled the trigger from 800 meters away. The author couldn't have been there, but he somehow puts we readers there in those wonderful, awful moments. The author has a way with words - a pleasing poetic way. Sudden surprizing jewels pop up unexpectedly throughout his book such as: p. 180: referring to the price one often pays to become an adult: "A false sense of our own importance has taken the laughter out of life." p. 244: on reflecting upon graduation from Laxton school: " I also took away with me many cherished memories. Like books, they line the shelves of my mind." p. 509: ".....I have already lived one complete life which I myself controlled, and have started out on a second one which I try to hand over to Someone who does a better job than I."

In all, I highly recommend Mr. Wright's book, and will be surprized if you do not also enjoy it.